Dalton Del Don looks into his crystal ball and reveals his fantasy baseball takes for every American League team. Stay tuned for the National League!
AL East
2. Toronto Blue Jays (Wild Card)
Comments/Fantasy Predictions:
Yankees: Anthony Rizzo scores 110+ runs from the leadoff spot, while Gleyber Torres bounces back with a big season … Josh Donaldson finishes with more fantasy value than Nolan Arenado and Austin Riley, while Aroldis Chapman finishes with more than Emmanuel Clase … Gerrit Cole leads the AL in wins, but Joey Gallo is a fantasy bust.
Blue Jays: Alejandro Kirk finishes as a top-five fantasy catcher, while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. wins MVP … Bo Bichette proves to be the better early pick than Jose Ramirez, while Matt Chapman hits 40 homers thanks to a big upgrade in home parks … George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez both finish as top-15 fantasy outfielders, while Gabriel Moreno is a future star who will be a popular mid-season pickup … Kevin Gausman doesn’t live up to his ADP during his return to the AL East, but Jordan Romano racks up 35+ saves.
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Red Sox: Nathan Eovaldi proves last year’s breakout was no fluke, while Trevor Story struggles to live up to his ADP while batting sixth for a team that doesn’t run and in a new home park that’s a big downgrade for power … Triston Casas ends up overtaking Bobby Dalbec at first base, while Garrett Whitlock overtakes Matt Barnes as the team’s closer … Tanner Houck is the real deal and finishes as a top-30 fantasy starter … The Red Sox (and Rays) just miss the wild card, as a tougher divisional schedule proves the difference.
Rays: Wander Franco wins the batting title and is a first-round fantasy pick in 2023, while Shane McClanahan is a top-15 fantasy starter … Andrew Kittredge records 30 saves, while Josh Lowe goes 20/20 … Shane Baz provides a dominant 120 innings for patient fantasy managers, while Vidal Brujan leads MLB in steals after the All-Star break.
Orioles: Adley Rutschman disappoints fantasy managers, but John Means has a career-best season thanks in part to new dimensions at Camden Yards … Trey Mancini outproduces Ryan Mountcastle.
AL Central
2. Minnesota Twins (Wild Card)
Comments/Fantasy Predictions:
White Sox: Dylan Cease wins the Cy Young, as the White Sox shake off Lance Lynn’s injury and beat the Blue Jays in the ALCS to win the American League … Lucas Giolito has a better fantasy season than Max Scherzer and Julio Urias, while Michael Kopech is a top-20 fantasy SP despite limited innings; the loss of Lynn isn’t so bad when he’s the team’s fourth-best starter … Free Andrew Vaughn.
Twins: I bet on Byron Buxton to win MVP at 30/1 and the Twins to win the World Series at 60/1. Buxton is among the league leaders in homers per plate appearance since 2020, plays Gold Glove center field defense and is just now entering his prime. He’ll be an easy top-three fantasy pick next year should health somehow cooperate … Miguel Sano hits .250 and slugs 40 homers, while a deceptively deep Twins rotation and elite defense up the middle help Minnesota win a wild card spot … Bailey Ober finishes as a top-30 fantasy starter, while Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer are both legit sleepers.
Guardians: Shane Bieber bounces back with a big season, while Triston McKenzie breaks out in a big way … Myles Straw records 40+ steals while Franmil Reyes finishes as a top-15 fantasy hitter.
Royals: Bobby Witt Jr. edges out Julio Rodriguez to win Rookie of the Year, while Adalberto Mondesi has a better fantasy season than Whit Merrifield while combining for 70 steals/homers … Brady Singer emerges as KC’s clear ace and goes down as one of the best bargains among fantasy SPs despite struggling to pick up wins. Carlos Hernandez, meanwhile, fails to live up to the sleeper hype.
Tigers: Eduardo Rodriguez disappoints, as Tarik Skubal proves to be Detroit’s most valuable fantasy pitcher … Spencer Torkelson has a much better future than he’ll show in 2022, while Austin Meadows somehow was traded to one of the few places that hurts lefty power even more than Tropicana Field, as Comerica Park has decreased homers an MLB-high 25% over the last three years.
AL West
1. Houston Astros
2. Los Angeles Angels (Wild Card)
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Texas Rangers
5. Oakland Athletics
Comments/Fantasy Predictions:
Astros: Justin Verlander finishes as a top-15 fantasy starter despite limited innings and approaching age 40, while Hector Neris (and his sudden spike in spin rate) overtakes Ryan Pressly as Houston’s closer … Lance McCullers Jr. doesn’t throw a pitch this season, while Jeremy Peña is a sleeper.
Angels: Shohei Ohtani is truly special — He led baseball in exit velocity on fly balls and line drives as a hitter while also leading all pitchers when it comes to increasing velocity on two-strike counts last year, but health prevents him from reaching 100 innings pitched in 2022. What Ohtani did last season was so rare because it’s so difficult to accomplish. Babe Ruth comically in comparison had a career 3.6 K/9 rate as a pitcher … Anthony Rendon and Noah Syndergaard bounce back with big rebound performances … If Jo Adell doesn’t live up to his lofty expectations, the Angels have nice outfield depth in Brandon Marsh and super sleeper Taylor Ward. LA also upgraded its bullpen depth during the offseason, so a wild card berth is in store (imagine if Mike Trout stayed healthy).
Mariners: Logan Gilbert disappoints fantasy managers, while Julio Rodriguez finishes runner-up in Rookie of the Year. He and Jarred Kelenic enter with awfully high fantasy expectations for two players yet to turn 23 years old … The Mariners’ closer situation looks like a true committee and one to avoid in fantasy leagues.
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Rangers: Jon Gray has a terrific year freed from Coors Field, finishing as a top-30 fantasy starter … Meanwhile, Marcus Semien saw an equally bad downgrade in home parks during the offseason yet somehow saw his ADP jump five rounds from last year, so he’s likely to let fantasy managers down … Adolis Garcia had a bottom-five wRC+ after the All-Star break last year, so let someone else draft him.
Athletics: The A’s project to score by far the fewest runs in baseball this season, as their depleted lineup (that includes a director) will be the most popular streaming opponent in 2022 … Stash James Kaprielian if you can; the former first-rounder showed real potential last year … Frankie Montas is going to struggle recording wins if he remains in Oakland, but he’s developed into a true ace and has top-10 fantasy SP upside should he be traded to the right situation.
National League preview to come Wednesday!